Matthew Robertson could not have scripted a better start to his most important hockey season to date.

The Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman will begin the 2018-2019 season with Team Canada in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup Under-18 tournament at Rogers Place.

Canada opens the tournament against Switzerland (7 p.m.) on Monday. They’ll play Slovakia on Tuesday and Sweden on Wednesday to round out the round-robin portion of the tournament.

“It’s a great honour,” Robertson said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to play in front of friends and family in my home rink, while representing Canada. It’s a dream come true.”

Robertson, 17, is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. The Sherwood Park product is going into his second full season with the Oil Kings, having scored seven goals and collected 24 points in 67 games in his rookie year.

Robertson is one of 11 Western Hockey League players on the Team Canada roster. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup features some of the best draft-eligible players in the world.

“I was kind of hoping I would be named to the roster, but I also didn’t know what to expect,” Robertson said. “So when I heard I was on the team, I was pretty happy about it.”

Robertson played his minor hockey in Sherwood Park and was selected seventh overall by the Oil Kings in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. He’s part of the Oil Kings rebuilding core with the club having missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

Robertson put in a lot of work during the off-season entering his draft year.

“The summer has been good,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of training, both on and off the ice. I want to try and get my lower body bigger and try to improve on my skating and on my shot.”

A good showing with Canada should be an excellent springboard into the season with the Oil Kings.

“This should definitely help with confidence, playing in such a fast-paced tournament,” Robertson said. “I’m just going to all out, play my game, and hopefully, we can win a gold medal.”

The tournament semifinals take place Friday with the final and bronze medal game Saturday at Rogers Place. The United States, Russia, Finland and Slovakia are in the other pool, playing their round-robin games in Red Deer.

“It’s surreal, it’s such a dream come true, playing with all these great guys, the best guys in Canada my age and going against the other great players around the world,” Robertson said. “It’s such a high-level competition, I can’t think of getting a chance to do anything better.”

Once the Hlinka Gretzky tournament concludes, Robertson will shift his focus on the upcoming season with the Oil Kings.

After finishing last in the WHL standings last season, the organization cleaned house bringing in a new coaching staff and general manager.

“I just want us to have a good year as a group,” Robertson said. “It’s tough to know what to expect, you just have to go in and play the best you can. You can’t focus too much on what you can’t control, so I’m not too concerned with the changes. We just need to come together collectively and play our best team game and buy into the coach’s system.”

The Oil Kings are expected to ice another young team this season and will likely be counting on Robertson to take on a bigger leadership role with the club

“I could take on a leadership role, regardless if I have a letter on my jersey or not,” he said. “I’m going to try and lead as much as I can, but I’m just going to be myself and try to help the team out as much as I can.”

Robertson is well aware the importance of the upcoming season for him personally, but he’s going to try and block out all the distractions and just focus on hockey.

“Pressure-wise, I can’t really control what scouts are going to think and what they do,” he said. “I just have to worry about my game. I’m just going to focus on what I can control and not to worry about everything else. The draft is in the back of my mind a little bit, but my focus will be on my game and try not too worry about it too much.”

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